I will let you in on a secret. For a brief period, about 2 weeks, I was a telemarketer. It was my first summer on my own, after my third year in college, and I was desperate. I was also awful at it. I left after two weeks, and got a job temping. So I do have sympathy for those who do this very difficult job.
However, in spite of being on the National Do Not Call list, we still get calls. We get the ones that are exempt from the Do Not Call list – political parties, not-for-profit organizations and surveys. While I try to be firm and polite and get off the call as fast as possible, sometimes it is nearly impossible to get off without being rude. In November, in the midst of a very aggressive political campaign, I lost my patience, and along with it, the ability to be polite and firm. I started to have some fun.
Right after the election, I read an article on how to get rid of telemarketers, and I thought they were rather aggressive. But there was one that didn’t make the list that I have used with particular success, which almost no telemarketer script can handle.
Ring, ring.
“Hello?”
“Good evening, ma’am. Is Mr. Dumbledore there?”
“I am so sorry, he died last week.”
Silence.
The more polite telemarketers will utter something like “So sorry to hear that.” Others will just hang up. Either way, it ends the call.
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Try using Caller ID…that has done wonders for us.
What’s even better is hooking up your phone to a fax machine and setting it to “fax only” for a few days